Three former NHL stars — Chris Chelios, Scott Niedermayer, and Brendan Shanahan — and two others — retired female player Geraldine Heaney and late ex-coach Fred Shero are this year’s inductees into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

The big announcement was made today in Toronto.

Chelios and Niedermayer, both defensemen, were eligible for the first time, while Shanahan, a forward, was voted in on his second year of admissibility after being passed over in 2012.

Not one of the above three can be considered a surprise.

As per usual, it’s the omissions that will cause the most heated debate. Rob Blake, Paul Kariya, Rod Brind’Amour, Keith Tkachuk, Sergei Zubov, Phil Housley, Dave Andreychuk, Eric Lindros, Tom Barrasso, and many others remain on the outside looking in. As does former coach Pat Burns, who died of cancer in 2010.

The induction ceremony will take place in November.

From the release:

Chris Chelios, a native of Chicago, Illinois, after two successful seasons with the Wisconsin Badgers (1981-83), joined the Montreal Canadiens and was named to the NHL’s All-Rookie team in 1984-85 and was also runner-up as Rookie of the Year to Mario Lemieux. He was part of the 1986 Canadiens’ Stanley Cup winning team and won the James Norris Trophy as Defenceman of the Year in 1988-89. Traded to Chicago in 1990, Chris went on to play nine season with the Blackhawks and was a five time first or second team All-Star and two-time Norris winner. Chelios continued his career in 1999 with the Detroit Red Wings, winning Stanley Cups in 2002 and 2008. He finished his 26 year playing career at the age of 48 with the Atlanta Thrashers and Chicago Wolves in 2009-10.

Scott Niedermayer grew up in Cranbrook, British Columbia, and was a member of the Kamloops Blazers 1992 Memorial Cup championship team. Selected by the New Jersey Devils in the 1st round (3rd overall selection), he went on to play 13 seasons with the Devils from 1991 to 2004, winning Stanley Cups in the 1995, 2000 and 2003 seasons. In 2005, he signed as a free agent with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks where he was a two-time first team All-Star during his six seasons, as well as being a key part of their 2007 Stanley Cup winning team. He also won the Conn Smythe Trophy as Playoff MVP that season. On the international front, Scott also won gold at the World Junior Championship in 1991, gold at the World Championship in 2004, and gold at two Olympic Games in 2002 and 2010.

Brendan Shanahan was born in Etobicoke, Ontario and after two seasons with the London Knights (OHL) was selected by the New Jersey Devils in the 1st round (2nd overall) in the 1987 NHL Entry Draft. A member of the New Jersey Devils for four seasons, Brendan was signed as a free agent by the St. Louis Blues in 1991. He player four seasons with the Blues and had back to back 50 goal seasons in 1992-93 and 1993-94 – being named a 1st team NHL All-Star in 1993-94. Brendan went on to play two seasons in Hartford before being traded to the Detroit Red Wings in 1996, where he played nine seasons winning the Stanley Cup on three occasions (1997, 1998 and 2002). Signed as an unrestricted free agent by the New York Rangers, he played two more seasons before retiring in 2008. Representing Canada internationally on numerous occasions, he was a member of Canada’s 2002 gold medal winning team.

Gerladine Heaney was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland and grew up playing hockey in Toronto Aeros – an association she would remain with for 18 seasons. As a member of Canada’s national team she won seven IIHF World Championship gold medals and was named the IIHF World Women’s Championship’s Best Defenceman in 1992 and 1994. A member of Canada’s 2002 gold medal Olympic team, Heaney also won silver in 1998.

In the Builder Category, Fred Shero was elected. Shero began his coaching career in 1959-60 with the St. Paul Saints, and progressed up the ranks with a career culminating in nine seasons in the National Hockey League. His Philadelphia Flyers won Stanley Cups in 1974 and 1975 and he also took the New York Rangers to the final in 1979, where he also had the role of General Manager. In 734 NHL regular season games coached, his teams had 390 wins, 225 losses and 119 ties. Shero passed away on November 24th, 1990.

“I will be listening to offers. Right now it’s quiet on all fronts,” Sakic said. “But I’ll listen to offers on how we can get better. I’ll never name names but I’ll sit there and if something makes sense for the way we want to go, with our team, we’ll really look at that.”

Considering that it’s mid-August, it’s not too surprising that little is happening. One can imagine that several GMs are more interested in finding drinks with umbrellas in them than trying to land Duchene, at least since the Avalanche don’t seem interested in giving him up without some serious haggling.

That Denver Post story features a semi-update on Nikita Zadorov. Sakic told Chambers that the two sides agreed that a two-year deal would be best, but the “numbers” aren’t there yet. He didn’t tip his hand about how big the gap was. For what it’s worth, Sakic didn’t sound too worried about the lure of the 2018 Winter Olympics swaying Zadorov to head overseas.

While a lot of the activity circles around what hasn’t happened, the Avalanche did realize that Will Butcher officially won’t sign with them, while Colorado added a college free agent (and former Maple Leafs prospect) Dominic Toninato to their own mix.

As a college free agent, Dom wanted to go somewhere to make an impact.

Still jarring and gross: the image of Logan Couture‘s mouth after taking a puck to the mouth about five months ago.

Still sore: Couture’s mouth.

Yep, the San Jose Sharks star hasn’t totally gotten over that injury, which forced him to have false teeth up top and some painfully sore ones on his bottom row. NBC Sports California’s Kevin Kurz transcribed the unfortunate details Couture shared with NHL Network this week:

“There’s good days and bad days,” Couture said. “My bottom teeth are still my real teeth. They’ve tried to keep them so I don’t lose them. I don’t know if I’ll be able to, they’re still pretty sore. My top teeth are all fake now – my front six, I think. So, it’s different. It just feels different in my mouth.

“But everything else with my face and all that is healed. I’m lucky that it’s an injury that didn’t affect my training, and hopefully won’t affect me going forward.”

Speaking of queasy, this is footage of when things were really bad for Couture. That link is provided because some will inevitably want to look, but treat this like the other gross things on the Internet that you wish you never saw and just move on.

(Seriously, the healing process continues on this end.)

Anyway, about the only bit of good news is that Couture can still train more or less as usual. He endured that injury late in the regular season (March 25), and while he suited up for the Sharks’ first-round series, it sure seemed like both Couture and Joe Thornton were limited in those six games against the Edmonton Oilers.

As much as dental agony seems like a uniquely “hockey” problem, this situation sounds especially rough for Couture.

Much like with Lebron James, Sidney Crosby is at the point in his career where the question is no longer “Will he be one of the all-time greats?” After back-to-back Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe wins, the discussion is shifting to where he ranks among the best of all-time.

And, like, with Lebron, there are a number of factors – including era, which is probably an even tougher nut to crack in hockey – that can twist and turn the debate.

” … You know, he’s arguably the best player of his generation, and he’s a guy that just knows how to win,” Sullivan said. “And so he’s done it in all different venues, whether it be the NHL and Stanley Cups to the World Cup to the Olympics. And he’s a player that — and I believe this, what separates him from others is his work ethic and his willingness to do what it takes to be the very best.”

It’s mind-blowing to consider the very real possibility that Crosby will be viewed as the best player to skate for the Penguins, edging Evgeni Malkin, Jaromir Jagr, and even Mario Lemieux.

When it comes to the Mario vs. Sid debate that may eventually pick up steam, Crosby has some advantages. He matched “The Magnificent One” by getting those back-to-back titles and playoff MVP nods, while he already has three Stanley Cup rings to Lemieux’s two (and four Stanley Cup Final appearances to two).

Crosby already has an iconic moment to his name. Along with Paul Henderson’s goal and “Gretzky to Lemieux,” Crosby’s golden goal in the 2010 Winter Olympics will endear him to Canadian hockey fans for ages.

But, again, things get tougher when you try to really drill down to Crosby vs. The Greats. Most obviously since he’s far from done right now.

Circling back to the debate that might divide Penguins fans in particular, Crosby might also edge Lemieux if you correct for our modern era, which is so tough on scoring. NHL.com’s Rob Vollman explains Crosby’s place among the most impressive runs before 30:

From this perspective, Crosby is no longer in a block of a dozen players but in more select company. He ranks third at age 30 with an era-adjusted 998 points (377 goals, 622 assists), well ahead of Lemieux, who is in fourth with 899 points (365 goals, 534 assists). Gretzky is in first with 1,479 points (495 goals, 984 assists) in 896 games, followed by Jagr with 1,018 points (414 goals, 604 assists) in 858 games. (Adding to the distinction of being in the top four with Gretzky, Jagr and Lemieux: Those are the only three players to win the Art Ross Trophy as the League’s top scorer in the 21 seasons from 1980-81 to 2000-01.)

Vollman also makes the point that even the all-timers tend to stop locking down the biggest awards once they turn 30. There’s an obvious barrier in Connor McDavid (just check the Hart Trophy odds) and possibly some other bright young players, so for all we know, most of our peak memories of Crosby may already be in the past.

That said, much like Lemieux, injuries have limited some of the stats Crosby’s been able to put up.

Crosby’s concussion history could conceivably prompt him to retire agonizingly early, but what if he instead gets better luck? We’ve seen cases, such as Patrice Bergeron, in which such issues become less of a concern over time. For all we know, Crosby might defy expectations and actually play until he’s 40.

(Hey, he already emulates Jaromir Jagr in being an inanely good puck protector.)

It’s been a special run already for Crosby, who’s already a no-brainer for the Hall of Fame. At this point, it’s about padding that resume.

The 23-year-old was selected 14th overall in the 2012 NHL Draft by the Sabres. He went two picks after the Sabres selected Mikhail Grigorenko, whose claim to fame is being part of the package that helped them nab Ryan O'Reilly. (Feel free to cringe at who went next, though hindsight seems especially convenient considering how long it takes to get to some of the whoppers.)

In Girgensons’ case, it’s still been a work in progress. His best years actually came early, particularly a sophomore season where he posted career-highs in goals (15) and points (30) despite being limited to 61 games. He enjoyed significantly higher ice time (19:05 per game) during that 2014-15, then came right back down.